On Tuesday 18th March 2002 there was torrential rain.  By mid-morning a muddy river was pouring off the downland to the north of the village above the Horsham Road.  It started about 9 inches deep and was three foot deep by the time it arrived at the south of the village.

Much of the hillside to the north had been ploughed and was not yet planted with crops and the top surface (with no roots to hold it) was swept away in a freak mud slide into the village.  I wonder if this muddy mess would have happened if the fields had been able to hold the moisture as in the past when the hillsides were covered with the traditional downland grass.

The deluge caked the Horsham Road with soil and converged in The Square where it is said there was deposited some 100 tonnes of mud. 

I drove across the junction wondering if I would make it to School Hill.  Dustbin bags of rubbish were floating by the shop doorways.  The flood caused water a foot deep between The Gun Inn, the Village House, Greypoint, Peckhams and Findon Newsagency and created havoc with the properties and left owners with a losing battling to keep the water out.  Residents were trapped in the shops and a number of homes were ruined.

A lake also grew at the entrance to Wyevale's Garden Centre on the A24 as motorists ploughed through.

Fire fighters were soon the scene and attempted to pump the offending muddy water away and carry out salvage operations.  The speed of the flood caught one lady driver by surprise (not me) and trapped her inside her people carrier near the Black Horse public house.  The water was halfway up her doors when the fire engine pulled up alongside and the crew assisted her to escape through a passenger window just as the water lapped at windscreen level.

The fire-fighters then combined with the local highways team to attempt to shift the vast amounts of mud deposited in The Square and sandbags and booms were placed in front of shops and properties in case there was a repeat of the weather.  Fortunately, there was not.

At the Village House the water reached about 5 ft. in the old cellar and bottles were floating passed as the landlord stood by helpless and watched.  The Village House closed while the electrics were checked and the carpets replaced.

The A24 was also flooded at Kingswood (not an unusual occurrence in wet weather) and brought tailbacks to the traffic attempting to pass through.  The water was 3 ft. deep and the main road through Findon was closed and did not reopen until early evening as carriageways became flooded. 

Findon was headlines on all channels of the television News on the night of 18th March 2002 with pictures of the floods and reporters talking to Tony Williams at the Findon Newsagency and Brian Laver of The Willows.